Re: Am I the only one...
> Trains and planes are both in a fairly predictable environment where the rules and conventions are pretty much always followed by other users.
Speaking as a former commercial pilot: the systems do not rely at all on any supposed "predictability" of the environment. What makes automation safe in that context is that we, the pilots, were trained and were in theory thoroughly familiar with the systems, their capabilities, their behaviour, failure modes, etc., so we could supervise them effectively. But even if it is the autopilot sending the commands to the control surfaces, etc., ultimately it is the pilots who are always in control (and we respond with our licences, if not our lives, if something goes seriously wrong).
The article makes a mention of the possibility of a special licence being required to drive cars above a certain level of automation. That makes a lot of sense. If you think of the technology in current cars (ACC being perhaps the most obvious example), it already requires a degree of familiarity to know when to let it do its thing, and know if it's working correctly, and when to take over.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
